This application is an improvement of copending application Ser. No. 713,891, filed Aug. 12, 1976 (W-146), now U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,877. This invention relates to an apparatus and method for viscoelastic measurement to discover thickened regions in human tissue, and more specifically relates to a novel transducer head with at least two spaced transducer elements of small area to enable improved examination of human tissue, particularly breast tissue, whereby very small thickened regions can be discovered, and whereby the palpation procedure can be done more quickly than at present, and can be carried out with relatively little training of the examiner.
Three main methods are at present used for the diagnosis of breast cancer: X-ray-mammography, thermography and palpation. Some work is also being done with ultrasonic waves. None of these methods is adequate alone, nor is a combination of several of them satisfactory. Palpation, in general, is not able to detect tumors of less than about one centimeter in size.
One of the most accurate methods in use is palpation, but this is done manually, is subjective, is time-consuming, and is costly. No instrument has so far been developed to carry out the palpation method. This is mainly due to the fact that no well working transducer can transform the information related to the tactile sense into electronic signals in the range of the consistencies (mechanical impedance) of living tissue.
The present invention provides a novel instrument to obtain the same information as a physician obtains through palpation, which instrument can analyze viscoelastic properties better, which can permit the recording of the information and which provides an objective, rapid, and reliable method to diagnose pathological states especially breast cancer.